The gang had mentally prepared themselves for the blaring of a shell horn that following morning, but soon remembered that Bucky had ditched them...and realized that they finally had a chance to sleep in. At least that's what they thought, until the sound of a distant rooster call made them all groan in annoyance...and sit up upon realizing that getting a good night's sleep was also pretty much useless. "Stupid rooster!" Witherstorm grumbled. "I was dreaming about prancing through an open field of delicious melons..." The Nether creature gazed into the sky, rubbing his belly as he tried to reimagine the elements of his dream. "I was dreaming about prancing through a field too, except mine was made out of cupcakes and donuts..." Ham said, as he started to stare off into the distance as well. Eden sighed, realizing that no matter how much her and her teammates dreamed about it...it would still be a long time before they could get food again. "Argh...quit talking about food!" The voice belonged to Petra, who had a very delayed reaction to the rooster's wake up call. And judging by her annoyed look, and dark circles(?) under her eyes, the warrior barely got any sleep last night. "Whoa, Petra..." Eden said. "You look like you haven't slept for the last few days that we've been on the island."
"Good morning to you too, Eden." Petra grumbled, obviously annoyed by Eden's comment. "Why do you look so tired?" Ham asked. Petra yawned, and scratched her arm. "For one, the ferret tribe was doing some 'tribal rain dance' last night..." she began. "How do you know?" Ham asked. "I got up for a minute to complain to them about it." Petra replied. "They wouldn't stop, though...and that horrible music just kept playing over and over. And also, Cloud was sleeping in some weird way...leading to me having to stay in one position all night so I wouldn't wake him." The gang looked over at the snoozing pup, who was on his back with his paws in the air. It didn't look like he was in that bad of a position, though there's really no telling if he actually stayed that way all night. The rooster sounded off again, causing the gang to all cover their ears in annoyance...upon noticing that it was standing only a few feet away from them. "What do we do about that problem?" Witherstorm asked. "We could eat it." Petra replied, hastily. Eden raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure a rooster isn't edible, Petra."
"Nonsense, he'll taste just like chicken." Petra said. She proceeded to creep up on the poor creature, stepping lightly so it wouldn't sense her coming. And then, she tackled it...only for it to break free from her grasp before flying away. Petra let out a loud groan, falling back on her knees in defeat. "Did I mention that my empty stomach also kept me up last night?" She asked. The rest of the gang went to join her near the spot where the rooster once stood. "I could imagine..." Eden said, sighing again. "We need to eat something soon, or else we probably won't last much longer out here."
"Lasting longer...I know we've only been on this island for two days, but I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks." Petra said. "Yeah, I'd hate to imagine how our luck will be these next couple of days." Ham said. The sound of rustling coming from the jungle interrupted their conversation, and out came Wither Sickness...empty handed, much to the team's dismay. He briefly turned himself into a liquid, and slinked over to his starving teammates...waking up Cloud in the process as well. "Find anything?" Eden asked, as the pathogen shook his head. "Nada. Not a single fruit, vegetable, or wild animal running around." He said. At this point, no one had the strength to complain...as they were all expecting that answer from Wither Sickness. Though they were indeed grateful that he tried his best. "However..." Wither Sickness continued, "the ferret tribe has quite a bit of food. Since they've been so rude to you guys, I say we return the favor and steal from them."
"Eh, that's not a terrible idea." Eden said. "They are just ferrets after all, it's not like they can really do anything to us." Witherstorm added. Cloud padded up to the group. "But they literally toss us out every time we trespass on their territory." He said. "Then we'll have to be careful not to get caught, won't we?" Eden said. "C'mon guys, let's go get some breakfast."

Ten minutes later...

After some time, the gang had arrived at the ferret tribe to find it completely empty...which hopefully meant that all the patrons were still sleeping. "Over there!" Ham whispered. He pointed to a massive pile of fruit that was just sitting next to one of the houses, waiting to be taken by some sort of thief. "Alright, you guys stay here and keep watch." Eden said. "I'm going in." She climbed down the ledge that they normally stood on when watching over the tribe, and upon finally setting foot on their territory...Eden realized how hard it was to maneuver around the huts and houses. "Uh, you okay down there, Eden?" Witherstorm asked. "Yeah...just a little cramped, but I'll be fine." Eden replied. She crouched down a bit further, and began to make her way towards the fruit...her fur just brushing the different huts and houses. But before she could reach her team's potential breakfast, Eden stepped on the wood that was used for the tribe's fire last night...in which was unfortunately still hot for some reason. A rather loud growl of pain rumbled in the back of the tigress' throat, causing the rest of the Wither Team to grit their teeth and cringe upon hearing the sound. She signaled for them not to worry, and continued on...until a loud screech was heard from up in the trees. "Intruders! Intruders! Get them!" In an instant, seven ferrets jumped from the branches and pushed the rest of the gang into the village...as every patron (including Bucky) rushed out to see who was invading. And they were nowhere near pleased to see that it was the Wither Team. Archie stepped out of the angry crowd. "Well, well, well...it appears that some people never learn, do they?" He said, crossing his arms. "I can't believe you guys would go as far as stealing from us!"
"You're right, it was a mistake. That's why we'll be going now." Eden said. They all turned to leave, but Archie commanded the tribe to block the entrance. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you've crossed the line. And now you hear from our leader." Archie said, as an evil grin stretched across his face. Eden scoffed, in which made Bucky visibly uneasy. "Oh, I'm so scared. I'll never be able to stand up to some little rodent." Sneered the tigress. Archie narrowed his eyes in response. "Chief Kane!" The door belonging to the biggest hut in the village suddenly swung open, and out came not a ferret...but a very large badger wearing a crown made out of crystals, and what also appeared to be sharp rocks that reinforced his claws. The gang suddenly looked a bit surprised, and realized why Bucky looked like he pitied them. He was nervous that things weren't going to end well. They took a step back, and Petra gestured for Cloud to get behind her. "Care to introduce yourself?" Eden asked, as the badger chuckled. "Name's Kane...Chief Kane, to be precise." He said. "And you must be Eden, the one who leads this ragtag bunch of intruders. Bucky's told me a lot about you guys." Eden crossed her arms, and shot a glare at the white ferret...knowing that it was most definitely a bad thing that Kane knew all about them. "It's unfortunate that you all can't find the correct resources to survive...but stealing from us was definitely not the way to go. Though I pity you, so I'm willing to make deal." Kane continued. Eden perked her ears up and nodded. "I'm listening."
"We will offer as much food as you need..." began the large badger, "if your team beats my tribe in a friendly duel." Upon hearing that, Eden couldn't help but give a hearty laugh. "Okay, tough guy...we except your deal. We'll go whenever you're ready." She said, as Kane chuckled. "Alright, then. How bout on three? One..." He snapped his fingers, and to Eden's surprise...every member of the tribe scurried up towards her team and dog piled them to the point where they found themselves stuck underneath a heaving mass of ferrets. An angry snarl erupted from Eden's mouth, as she unsheathed her claws and dropped on all fours. "You said on three!"
"I've never been the one to tell the truth." Kane said. Taking Eden by surprise, Kane immediately pounced on her back...clawing out clumps of fur until he hit flesh with his reinforced claws. Eden stumbled about, shaking and roaring with fury as an attempt to knock her attacker off. "Graaah!!! GET THE HELL OFF ME!!!" The tigress screeched, suddenly fuming with rage. Whipping her neck over her shoulder, Eden managed to grab Kane by the scruff of his neck with her teeth before tossing him into the nearest hut. The badger tribe leader landed dazed, but still ready to fight. He launched himself at Eden again, but she leaped away...and raked her claws across his side before locking her jaw on the back of his neck. Kane snarled in pain, but soon somehow managed to break free before Eden could do any serious damage. She sprinted towards him, swinging her paws around like there was no tomorrow as an attempt to get a hit on her opponent...but was unfortunately met with great speed, as Kane dodged every single attack that came his way. It hadn't been long, though lack of energy made Eden tired and dizzy rather quickly...but she forced herself to keep going. She charged again, only for Kane to leap right over her head. Eden stood there, blood dripping from a small cut on her back as she breathed heavily...looking like she was ready to collapse and give in right then and there. Kane chuckled evilly. "Looks like being on this island without food has taken it's toll on you!" He then pounced on Eden's back again and chomped down on her ear, tugging hard enough to the point where it looked like he could pull it off. The tigress roared in pain, and hopped around while bucking kind of like a bull to shake the massive badger off. "Aaaagh! Let go! Let go!" She hissed. "Help me!" The others attempted to get away from the raging mass of ferrets, but they unfortunately were having no better luck than Eden. Another roar of fury was unleashed by Eden, and she whipped her head in one direction hard enough for Kane to go flying next to one of the village's huts. After a moment, he stood up looking a little dizzy...but soon reached for something behind the hut, as he faced the glowing red eyes that belonged to Eden. "C'mon." Urged the large badger. "Give me everything you've got." Seeing this opportunity to end this battle and claim the prize, Eden bounded over to her cocky opponent with claws outstretched and teeth bared, roaring triumphantly. Kane gave a wicked smile, as he swung what appeared to be a makeshift weapon that was stone tied to a stick, making contact with Eden's face...as well as sending her flying headfirst into one of the huts. And all of a sudden, everything went quiet. The ferrets released the struggling Wither Team, and got back into a huge crowd...waiting to see what Eden would do next. The tigress pulled her head out of the small house, and noticed that her ear and back were no longer the only things bleeding. The taste of blood felt tangy and warm on her tongue, as a glint of white caught her by the corner of her eye. And there, in between her and Kane, was Eden's tooth...stained with the crimson liquid that dripped from the hole where it once belonged. Before Eden could grab it, Kane scooped it up and held it high for everyone to see. "Wow...it appears that your dignity just went flying right out of your mouth now, hasn't it?" He said, smiling evilly again. "I think I'll keep this, if you don't mind."
"You'll give that back, or you'll see your blood turn purple." Eden snarled, as Kane laughed. "Your wither powers do not scare me, little tigress. Besides, you're not all that deadly when you're missing a tooth." Upon hearing that, Eden's eyes began to glow purple...and she charged for Kane with an open maw again. But her tiredness had made her legs shaky, in which caused her to trip and fall at Kane's paws. "It's too late, Eden." He said, firmly. "You've lost. And now you and your team are doomed to starve here on this island." Eden could never look more defeated. Not only did she get owned by an animal that's just about smaller than her, but she failed at potentially getting a meal for her team. At this point, all her hopes on finally retrieving food...were getting pretty low. Wither Sickness helped her up off the dusty turf, and touched at tentacle to her bleeding ear. "We need to get this fixed up." He said. "Let's go, guys." As they turned to leave, they realized that after this whole fiasco...a certain white ferret had absolutely no right to stay with the tribe any longer. "C'mon, Bucky." Petra said, after staring at him for a brief moment. He stepped out of the crowd, taking a deep breath as he slowly shook his head. "No."
Eden whirled around upon hearing the word. "What?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing. "I said no." Replied the white ferret, firmly. "I'm tired of being yelled at and complained to. And here in this tribe, I don't have to worry about any of that when I wake up in the morning. You all don't need me, anyway." Kane gave him a respectful pat on his shoulder, as he smiled at the shocked expressions belonging to the Wither Team. They never expected him to have the guts to say such a thing. For a moment, the white ferret expected Eden to lash out in a fit of rage...but she simply just flattened her ears and let out a menacing growl. "Fine, have it your way...you little traitor. Don't expect us to come looking for you before we leave this stupid island." She snarled. And with that, the Wither Team left the ferret tribe for the the third and final time...hoping to never have a reason to return ever again.